324 research outputs found
Simulations of dense granular flow: Dynamic Arches and Spin Organization
We present a numerical model for a two dimensional (2D) granular assembly,
falling in a rectangular container when the bottom is removed. We observe the
occurrence of cracks splitting the initial pile into pieces, like in
experiments. We study in detail various mechanisms connected to the
`discontinuous decompaction' of this granular material. In particular, we focus
on the history of one single long range crack, from its origin at one side
wall, until it breaks the assembly into two pieces. This event is correlated to
an increase in the number of collisions, i.e. strong pressure, and to a
momentum wave originated by one particle. Eventually, strong friction reduces
the falling velocity such that the crack may open below the slow, high pressure
`dynamic arch'. Furthermore, we report the presence of large, organized
structures of the particles' angular velocities in the dense parts of the
granulate when the number of collisions is large.Comment: Submitted to J. Phys.
Simulations of Pattern Formation in Vibrated Granular Media
We present simulations of peak pattern formation in vibrated two-dimensional
(2D) granulates and measure the dispersion relation of the pattern for various
frequencies, accelerations, cell sizes, and layer heights. We report the first
quantitative data from numerical simulations showing an interesting dependence
of the pattern wavelength on the acceleration and the system size. Our results
are related to recent experimental findings and theoretical predictions for
gravity waves.Comment: 6 pages PS-file including figures, (version accepted at Europhys.
Lett. 26.10.96
Stationary shear flows of dense granular materials : a tentative continuum modelling
We propose a simple continuum model to interpret the shearing motion of
dense, dry and cohesion-less granular media. Compressibility, dilatancy and
Coulomb-like friction are the three basic ingredients. The granular stress is
split into a rate-dependent part representing the rebound-less impacts between
grains and a rate-independent part associated with long-lived contacts. Because
we consider stationary flows only, the grain compaction and the grain velocity
are the two main variables. The predicted velocity and compaction profiles are
in apparent agreement with the experimental or numerical results concerning
free-surface shear flows as well as confined shear flow
Granular Flows in a Rotating Drum: the Scaling Law between Velocity and Thickness of the Flow
The flow of dry granular material in a half-filled rotating drum is studied.
The thickness of the flowing zone is measured for several rotation speeds, drum
sizes and beads sizes (size ratio between drum and beads ranging from 47 to
7400). Varying the rotation speed, a scaling law linking mean velocity vs
thickness of the flow, , is deduced for each couple (beads, drum).
The obtained exponent is not always equal to 1, value previously reported
in a drum, but varies with the geometry of the system. For small size ratios,
exponents higher than 1 are obtained due to a saturation of the flowing zone
thickness. The exponent of the power law decreases with the size ratio, leading
to exponents lower than 1 for high size ratios. These exponents imply that the
velocity gradient of a dry granular flow in a rotating drum is not constant.
More fundamentally, these results show that the flow of a granular material in
a rotating drum is very sensible to the geometry, and that the deduction of the
``rheology'' of a granular medium flowing in such a geometry is not obvious
A 2-D asymmetric exclusion model for granular flows
A 2-D version of the asymmetric exclusion model for granular sheared flows is
presented. The velocity profile exhibits two qualitatively different behaviors,
dependent on control parameters. For low friction, the velocity profile follows
an exponential decay while for large friction the profile is more accurately
represented by a Gaussian law. The phase transition occurring between these two
behavior is identified by the appearance of correlations in the cluster size
distribution. Finally, a mean--field theory gives qualitative and quantitative
good agreement with the numerical results.Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures; typos added, one definition change
Surface flows of granular materials: A short introduction to some recent models
We present a short review of recent theoretical descriptions of flows
occuring at the surface of granular piles, and focus mainly on two models: the
phenomenological ``BCRE'' model and the hydrodynamic model, based on
Saint-Venant equations. Both models distinguish a ``static phase'' and a
``rolling'' phase inside the granular packing and write coupled equations for
the evolutions of the height of each of these phases, which prove similar in
both approaches. The BCRE description provides a very intuitive picture of the
flow, whereas the Saint-Venant hydrodynamic description establishes a general
and rigorous framework for granular flow studies.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, published in a special issue of C. R. Physique
(Paris) on granular matte
Rapid granular flows on a rough incline: phase diagram, gas transition, and effects of air drag
We report experiments on the overall phase diagram of granular flows on an
incline with emphasis on high inclination angles where the mean layer velocity
approaches the terminal velocity of a single particle free falling in air. The
granular flow was characterized by measurements of the surface velocity, the
average layer height, and the mean density of the layer as functions of the
hopper opening, the plane inclination angle and the downstream distance x of
the flow. At high inclination angles the flow does not reach an x-invariant
steady state over the length of the inclined plane. For low volume flow rates,
a transition was detected between dense and very dilute (gas) flow regimes. We
show using a vacuum flow channel that air did not qualitatively change the
phase diagram and did not quantitatively modify mean flow velocities of the
granular layer except for small changes in the very dilute gas-like phase.Comment: 10 pages, 16 figures, accepted to Phys. Rev.
Solid-fluid transition in a granular shear flow
The rheology of a granular shear flow is studied in a quasi-2d rotating
cylinder. Measurements are carried out near the midpoint along the length of
the surface flowing layer where the flow is steady and non-accelerating.
Streakline photography and image analysis are used to obtain particle
velocities and positions. Different particle sizes and rotational speeds are
considered. We find a sharp transition in the apparent viscosity ()
variation with rms velocity (). In the fluid-like region above the depth
corresponding to the transition point (higher rms velocities) there is a rapid
increase in viscosity with decreasing rms velocity. Below the transition depth
we find for all the different cases studied and the
material approaches an amorphous solid-like state deep in the layer. The
velocity distribution is Maxwellian above the transition point and a Poisson
velocity distribution is obtained deep in the layer. The observed transition
appears to be analogous to a glass transition.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
Exact Solutions of a Model for Granular Avalanches
We present exact solutions of the non-linear {\sc bcre} model for granular
avalanches without diffusion. We assume a generic sandpile profile consisting
of two regions of constant but different slope. Our solution is constructed in
terms of characteristic curves from which several novel predictions for
experiments on avalanches are deduced: Analytical results are given for the
shock condition, shock coordinates, universal quantities at the shock, slope
relaxation at large times, velocities of the active region and of the sandpile
profile.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figure
On dense granular flows
The behaviour of dense assemblies of dry grains submitted to continuous shear
deformation has been the subject of many experiments and discrete particle
simulations. This paper is a collective work carried out among the French
research group GDR Milieux Divis\'es. It proceeds from the collection of
results on steady uniform granular flows obtained by different groups in six
different geometries both in experiments and numerical works. The goal is to
achieve a coherent presentation of the relevant quantities to be measured i.e.
flowing thresholds, kinematic profiles, effective friction, etc. First, a
quantitative comparison between data coming from different experiments in the
same geometry enforces the robust features in each case. Second, a transversal
analysis of the data across the different configurations, allows us to identify
the relevant dimensionless parameters, the different flow regimes and to
propose simple interpretations. The present work, more than a simple
juxtaposition of results, underlines the richness of granular flows and
enhances the open problem of defining a single rheologyComment: collectif paper written by the GdR Milieux divises (submitted the
12/12/03
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